Introduction: Published research studies in Central Europe have been mostly oriented toward occupational stress among schoolteachers. The aim of this study is to investigate the level of occupational stress in kindergarten teachers and to specify psychosocial risks associated with their work.
Methods: The study was conducted by using a Meister questionnaire and a Psychosocial risk questionnaire. The data collection was obtained from kindergarten teachers in 2017. The survey link with request was sent to participants via email. A total 287 questionnaires from 67 kindergarten schools were collected.
Results: 192 (66.9%) teachers perceived their work as mentally burdensome. Teachers who perceived their work as mentally non-burdening were more likely to report autonomy in their work (p=0.001), fair performance evaluation (p=0.010), sufficient family time (p=0.005), a health-protected workplace (p=0.000) and absence of violence and bullying (p=0.042). Teachers with a university degree perceiving work as mentally burdensome reported that their work was not adequately assessed (p=0.034). Teachers over 45 years of age with school practice of over 20 years reported injustice in evaluating work performance against younger colleagues (p=0.000).
Conclusion: Kindergarten teachers reported overloading, time pressure, and high responsibility, but considered their work interesting. However, changing the way teachers work in schools can reduce teacher resignation and improve teachers' well-being.
Uvod: Objavljene raziskovalne študije v Srednji Evropi so bile večinoma usmerjene v poklicni stres med učitelji. Cilj te študije je bil raziskati stopnjo poklicnega stresa pri vzgojiteljih v vrtcih in določiti psihosocialna tveganja, povezana z njihovim delom.
Metode: Študija je bila izvedena z uporabo vprašalnika Meister in vprašalnika o psihosocialnih tveganjih. Podatki so bili zbrani od vzgojiteljev v letu 2017. Udeleženci so povezavo do ankete z zahtevo prejeli preko elektronske pošte. Zbranih je bilo 287 vprašalnikov iz 67 vrtcev.
Rezultati: 192 (66,9 %) vzgojiteljev razume svoje delo kot psihično obremenjujoče. Za vzgojitelje, ki svoje delo dojemajo kot psihično neobremenjujoče, je bolj verjetno, da bodo poročali o samostojnosti pri svojem delu (p = 0,001), pošteni oceni uspešnosti (p = 0,010), dovolj časa z družino (p = 0,005), varovanju zdravja na delovnem mestu (p = 0,000) ter odsotnosti nasilja in ustrahovanja (p = 0,042). Vzgojitelji z univerzitetno izobrazbo, ki dojemajo delo kot psihično obremenjujoče, so poročali, da njihovo delo ni bilo ustrezno ocenjeno (p = 0,034). Vzgojitelji, starejši od 45 let in z več kot 20 let prakse, so poročali o nepravičnosti pri ocenjevanju delovne uspešnosti v primerjavi z mlajšimi kolegi (p = 0,000).
Zaključek: Vzgojitelji v vrtcu so poročali o preobremenitvi, časovnem pritisku, visoki odgovornosti, vendar so menili, da je njihovo delo zanimivo. Vendar pa lahko s spremembo načina dela učiteljev v šolah zmanjšamo odpovedi učiteljev in izboljšamo njihovo počutje.
Keywords: kindergarten teachers; occupational stress; psychosocial risks; questionnaire of psychosocial risks; workload.